


I'll Be Needing Stitches

by orphan_account



Category: Ed Sheeran (Musician), One Direction (Band)
Genre: A/B/O, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:57:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6115723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed never wanted to be an omega. It had been drilled into him since he was a child – omegas are weak, omegas are needy, omegas are worthless. So he hides it, because he’s better than that (he has to be better than that). But the new suppressants he takes come from an untrustworthy dealer and end up being fakes. Unfortunately, the day he figures this out is also the day he meets One Direction. </p>
<p>Even more unfortunately (to Ed, at least), they aren’t at all willing to let him hide any longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning - this is an alternate universe. Ed is right around Zayn's age. In this fic he's only just meeting One Direction after years of them being together as a band. Lots of things are different.

_Fuck._

Ed stopped what he was doing, putting the cup of coffee down on the counter. _Fuck,_ he thought again, _I’m nesting._ It wasn’t a common occurrence, not for the redhead. Ed had been taking suppressants since the age of twelve, when he had first presented. Nesting was usually a precursor to an omega’s heat, something they did to feel secure, safe, and comfortable. It was a self soothing technique, one that many omegas went overboard with if they didn’t have a mate or a pack bond.

“No,” Ed sighed, pressing his fingers to his temples. “No, no, _no._ This isn’t happening today. This won’t happen today.”

 It was fine. Everything was good. His new suppressants were probably just taking a while to kick in, that was all. It was always a weird switch whenever he had to go on a new pill. There was nothing to be worried about – there _couldn’t_ be anything to worry about.

He threw his coffee away, forced himself not to clean the dishes in the sink. He ignored the urge to grab every blanket he had in the house and make himself a pillow fort. This wasn’t the time. He had two interviews this afternoon and a ‘special meet-up’ with one of the most famous boy bands in the world, One Direction. The meet-up and resulting interview at the end was, according to Ed’s manager, a good way to get more publicity.

At first, Ed had wanted to refuse. One Direction were all alphas except for Niall, the only omega in the group. From what Ed could tell when he had watched their past interviews and interactions online, Niall was everything he had been taught _not_ to be growing up. The alphas were obviously smitten with the blonde haired Irish boy, always reaching out to touch him, pushing him to the middle of their group when in a large crowd, taking turns holding his hand. Niall seemed to love the attention, not ducking away from it like Ed always did whenever someone tried to touch him. No matter how much Ed wanted to, however, he couldn’t hate Niall. Even though the red head had never met the other omega in person, the blonde seemed like such a carefree and happy person. He genuinely cared about the fans and put just as much work into their performances as anyone else in One Direction. He was also just plain fucking adorable. How could Ed hate someone like that?

Which was why he had, at first, vehemently protested against the meet. He didn’t want to talk to a whole pack of alphas, didn’t want to watch them shamelessly dote on their omega, didn’t want to tease himself with something he knew he could never have. But Ed’s manager was adamant.

_“Sometimes you have to do things you wouldn’t normally want to in this industry,”_ he had said firmly, “ _It’s just a couple of hours, Ed. Hell, not even. You’ll be in and out!”_

Since the only argument Ed could have given at the time was ‘I don’t like alphas’, he decided to just go along with it this time.

Now he was sorely regretting that decision.

 Ed threw on some presentable clothes, washed his face, and grabbed for a blanket, and then another blanket, and then a shirt and a cushion and – _no!_ He stopped himself just before he began stripping the sheets off his bed and looked morosely behind him, where a pile of mismatched clothes and blankets were now piled in the corner of his room. 

Shit.

He was _not_ going to do this.

* * *

When Ed arrived at the venue, the last thing he expected was for a blonde bundle of omega to crash into him on his way through the door. He fell, Niall on top of him, and smacked his head loudly on the floor. When his eyes fluttered open, the blonde was staring down at him worriedly and both of the boy’s small hands came up to smoosh his cheeks. “Are you okay!?” the omega said, panicked, “F-Fuck, I’m really sorry, I didn’t see you and I was just –“ 

“Niall, where the hell have you been, we’ve been looking everywhere for –“ the voice stopped abruptly and Ed, dazed, looked past the blonde to see who had spoken. He recognized the boy, Harry Styles, and then three more boybanders ran up behind their curly headed counterpart. Liam, Louis, and Zayn, Ed remembered slowly. _God,_ he thought, _my head hurts._

Niall quickly stood up, helping the red head stand beside him, and guiltily turned to look at the gathered alphas. “Hey!” he said cheerfully, “Just needed a little air.” 

“You didn’t tell us where you were going,” Harry replied, raising an eyebrow, “Don’t just disappear like that again, Ni. You always run off without –“

“Okay, I get it, but – um, _kind_ of have a situation here? I mean, I think this is the guy we’re supposed to meet today? And I might have accidentally, maybe given him a _tiny_ bit of a concussion.”

Instead of reprimanding Niall for interrupting him, which was what Harry seemed as if he were about to do, the alpha shut his mouth as an afterthought. Obviously helping the poor injured red head was a bigger deal to him in that moment. When Ed felt Harry’s hands on his scalp he almost groaned from the feeling, but managed to hold it in. Jesus, what the hell was wrong with him? He had just about _leaned into_ Harry’s touch! He never, ever did anything but flinch away from alphas when they tried to touch him!

But somehow, this was different. Harry’s fingers were gentle as they explored Ed’s head for an injury, gentling further when the red head flinched as the alpha’s touch grazed an obvious lump. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Harry asked earnestly, “I’m really sorry – Niall can be a little bit out there when he gets nervous.”

“Nervous?” Ed mumbled, confused. 

“Yeah!” Louis cut in, “He was real excited to meet you. We all were. Your songs are ace!”

“But he was nervous,” Zayn broke in, “Afraid you might not like him or something like that.”

 “Totally _not_ true!” Niall snipped good naturedly, “Who could dislike me? I’m a fucking charm, I am!”

Liam laughed and ruffled the blonde head, “’Course you are, Ni. I’m sure poor Ed here thinks you running over him like a freight train was the height of a charming experience.”

Niall blushed. “Well…”

“And we _will_ be talking about that later, babe,” Liam said, this time a little more serious. “You can’t just run off like that.”

Ed, who was starting to feel a little more like normal and less like he had just gotten brained, felt guilt flood his chest. He didn’t want Niall to get in trouble. He knew how alphas could get when their omega was disobedient. He had been punished all the time as a child, one of the reasons he now strived to hide the omega inside him. He couldn’t let an alpha have that kind of power over him again.

“No,” he broke in. The alphas turned to him, eyebrows raised in surprise. Zayn was the first of them to look halfway annoyed, though he seemed more confused than anything else. 

“What do you mean ‘no’?” 

Ed swallowed thickly, forcing himself not to cower in the tall alpha’s demanding presence. “I – I mean, you shouldn’t punish Niall. It was my fault.”

“Your fault?” Harry asked, frowning, “Niall wasn’t looking where he was going. It’s our omega’s fault, not yours. He knows not to run around inside like that.”

“Besides, he’s our responsibility and we’ll punish him if we think he needs it. Thank you for trying to stick up for him, but we’ll handle it,” Liam said firmly.

“But – but I –“ Ed wasn’t usually so nervous. He couldn’t remember a time when he had actually started to _sweat_ in an alpha’s presence, but he was definitely doing so now. “I – I really don’t think you should. He’s… he’s sorry. He said he was sorry.”

“We _know_ he apologized,” Zayn rolled his eyes, “He can apologize all he wants, but there has to be consequences.” 

“It’s fine, Ed!” Niall interrupted, sensing the tense atmosphere, “It’s all fine. Nothing to worry about, mate.”

Ed nodded tightly, forcing a smile. “O-Of course, yeah.”

The alphas still seemed a bit confused, but they graciously let it go. They relaxed, shrugging it off easily in favor of getting the meet and greet started and over with. 

“Boys?” The interviewer stuck her head through the door, “We’re ready whenever you are! How’s everything going in here?”

“Good,” Ed replied, gritting his teeth and giving her a smile, “Everything is good.”

 

* * *

 

Ed answered the interviewer’s questions on autopilot. He had been asked the same things a thousand times. He was feeling awfully hot, though. The room’s temperature was in the low sixties at least but Ed felt like he was sitting in a sauna. He pulled on the collar of his shirt, too occupied with trying not to sweat through his clothes to hear the interviewer’s next question. Niall nudged him.

 “Oh – u-um, sorry, what was the question?”

The interviewer was looking at him like he was a particularly special brand of idiot. “I asked, Mr. Sheeran,” she repeated slowly, “what your caste is, exactly?”

“Beta,” Ed said automatically, the lie slipping out effortlessly as usual. “I’m a beta.”

“I see. How is it, being a beta in the music industry?”

“It’s – it’s uh, good. I mean, it’s…” God, what the hell was he supposed to say? _Think, Ed. You know the answer to this one. You’ve heard this all before._ “It’s – it’s –“

The alphas and Niall were starting to take notice of his lapse in concentration. The blonde looked at him, concerned. “Ed?” he whispers, “You ‘kay, mate?”

“I’m fine,” Ed gritted out, “I’m good. Um, sorry, but can we take a break?”

The lady looked very unimpressed, but she nodded curtly. “Sure. Ten minutes.” She stood up, “Go get yourselves together.”

Ed was so relieved he almost cried. Thankfully he had a lot of practice in pushing down his emotions. He sprinted past the boys and into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Suddenly a rush of something thick and wet gushed from – from – _what the fuck!?_

“Ed?”

Someone knocked on the bathroom door. It was Niall who spoke, but Ed had no doubt that the boy’s alphas were standing nearby. He had to get himself out of this. There was no fucking way he could go out there with omega slick between his thighs. Niall’s omega scent was strong, sure, but it wasn’t strong enough to mask Ed’s. The suppressants were supposed to work – they couldn’t stop working, not now!

 “Dude, seriously, you okay in there?” Louis this time. God, Ed was so fucked.

“I’m fine, thanks, mate,” he tried to sound as normal as possible, but it came out sounding like a croak instead. “I’ll be out in a minute.“

 The questions finally stopped, which Ed took to mean that the boys had backed off for now. He sighed, falling to his knees and resting his head against the wall. He felt so weak all of a sudden, as well as burning hot, and he could feel his ass starting to get slicker by the minute. On top of everything else, the bump on his head had started to throb viciously again. 

Ed struggled to his feet, grabbing a handful of paper towels and wetting them under water from the sink. He quickly yanked his pants and underwear down, trying to mop up as much slick as he could in the next five minutes. He finally managed to get most of it, though the flow was still sluggishly seeping out. As a last ditch effort, the red head lined his underwear with as many paper towels as he could manage and pulled his pants back up. It would have to do for now. At least until he could manage to escape this fucking interview.

He opened the door and pushed his sweaty fringe from his eyes. The allotted break time was over and the boys were already in the interview room. Without saying a word he took a seat on the farthest chair available, instead of sitting on the couch beside Niall where he had been previously. 

The blonde gave him a strange look and Ed smiled fleetingly, forcing himself to give the interviewer his full attention.

“And we’re back,” the woman began, “It’s been such a pleasure speaking with you all today. I would just like to wrap up with a few more questions.”

“It's our pleasure, honestly,” Harry replied, seemingly genuine even though his cheerful expression was obviously strained. “We care about our fans so much – and answering their questions.” That, at least, was the truth.

 “Right then, the next question is…”

Up until that point, the burning in Ed’s body had been mostly tolerable. He could push it down, just like he had managed to push down the urge to nest that morning. Up until right now, he had still been half convinced that it was a fluke or something. His suppressants had _never_ fucked him over before. It always, always worked. But now? Now, when Ed felt the burning turn into _agony_ , he knew he was well and truly screwed.

With a loud, unintentional groan, Ed clutched his abdomen, where the fierce pain was at it’s worse. Unbeknownst to him, his scent crested and crashed like a wave in that moment, filling the room and permeating the air. It was so strong that even the interviewer flushed bright red and coughed into her hand. Ed could feel tears of shame building behind his eyes even as he tried to hold onto any last thread of composure he had. Distantly he heard Harry demand that the cameras be turned off. Someone was touching him, the skin of that person’s fingers cooling his skin.

“What the hell!?” he heard someone shout, “Ed Sheeran is an omega!”

An alpha growl tore the room – Ed wasn’t sure who it belonged to– and he was lifted off the chair and into someone’s arms as if he weighed nothing. At first, he struggled uselessly, panic tearing at his chest. But before he could get even close to escape, someone squeezed the skin at the back of his neck. This spot was a place that alphas could use to force an omega into a calm headspace. Usually the alpha wouldn’t ‘squeeze’ the skin unless the omega was in danger of harming themselves or in a bad place mentally. It was an extremely intimate thing and very rarely did an alpha force an omega they had just met into calming down unless it was absolutely necessary. Obviously the alphas in the room had decided it was one of ‘those’ situations.

Ed’s head swam with the rush of endorphins and his vision narrowed until finally, blessedly, he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed wakes up to his worst... nightmare?
> 
> (As in, five hot boy-banders).

The pounding in Ed’s head was what made him eventually come to. That, and the sweltering, burning heat crawling up his spine – as though it were determined to sear his insides to ashes. He sluggishly blinked open his eyes, wincing as the light from the room he had been placed in shocked his senses.

“Hey – hey, take it easy, mate.”

“Who,” Ed started and then coughed, groaned as the burn grew brighter, “What the _fuck –“_

The red head could barely make out a small, pale hand covering his own and holding on tight. Surprisingly, as soon the hand made contact with his, the burning receded slightly. Not enough to make everything okay, but enough to make it bearable. It gave Ed at least some of his senses back, and he was able to sit up. Looking down, he realized apathetically that he had somehow ended up on someone’s couch. And, judging from the fact that it was Niall Horan’s face he saw when he looked up, the couch probably belonged to him (that, or they were still somewhere in that god-awful interview housing).

Niall smiled brightly (as if Ed’s skin wasn’t trying to burn itself to pieces) and patted the ginger’s flushed arm. “How are you feeling?”

Still dazed, Ed opened his mouth and almost blurted out a request for more suppressants (preferably ones that fucking _worked_ this time) but immediately stopped when he realized who, exactly, he was talking to. Shit, but there was no hiding it now, was there? Surely everyone in a hundred foot radius could smell the slick and uniquely omega-scent wafting off his stocky frame. Hell, _Ed_ could smell it on himself – which told him just how strong it was. Omegas were mostly attuned to alpha scents and smells outside of their bodies. That was why it was recommended to have an alpha friend or family member check up on omegas regularly to make sure they didn’t go into an early heat. It was rare for an omega to realize when their scent was hitting dangerous levels.

“I’m fine,” Ed finally replied out of sheer habit. He knew it was no good, but he had been hiding it for so long… he couldn’t give up now, could he? Still, the way Niall’s face fell into a disappointed frown was enough to squeeze Ed’s heart enough that he had to look away. Lying wasn’t any omega’s strong suit. Lying to an alpha was almost impossible without the right scent suppressors and pills to throw them off. And Ed currently had none of those. 

Niall recovered quickly, pasting on the kind of smile he only used for particularly stressful situations. Ed recognized it because he had also used the same kind of expression against multitudes of fans, reporters, and cameras. He had to at least give Niall points for trying, though.

“The boys and I brought you back to ours,” Niall said, “After… After Harry put you in Omega Space…”

“He – He what? Wait, no – I don’t know what you’re even talking about. I just passed out. Fuck, mate, I’m – I’m fine,” Ed stumbled over the words, but he couldn’t seem to stop. All he could think about was keeping the lie going, keeping the secrets hidden. “I’m just not feeling all that well. But I’ll be tip top – you just gotta give me a few days. Sometimes I get like this. A little dehydrated, probably, yeah?”

Niall nodded hesitantly, but he didn’t meet Ed’s eyes and his hands were now clasped in his own lap. It was as if he had shrunken away from Ed’s frustration, his desperation. Ed vaguely realized that Niall was only agreeing to placate him, to calm him down. _Like he would another omega,_ Ed thought bitterly, _like I’m fucking weak._  

“Yeah, well,” Ed snapped, tightly, “I’ll be off. My manager expects me to meet with him in –“ Ed looked down at his watch and had to stop himself from gasping, “Ah, shit, like – like three hours ago –“

“That… ah, might not be the best idea,” Niall replied gently, standing and holding his hands up like he was trying to calm an upset animal. “You’re – you’re, well, that is… Oh, for god’s sake, you’re bloody _soaked_ , mate. And getting worse, if I’m honest.”

Ed looked down at his crotch and blushed to the roots of his already-red hair. Niall had the fleeting thought that it made him look like a particularly adorable tomato, before Ed burst out, “I’m just sweating! It’s nothing!”

 _Alright,_ Niall thought, his patience running thin, _it’s time to get serious._ “You’re in heat! It’s obvious that you’re an omega, Ed. You’re reeking omega-scent, you’re burning up – and I won’t be able to keep away burn forever by keeping a hand on you! I get it, okay? It’s scary. What were you on? Omestri-Q? Nomega? No… those are all temporary name-brand suppressants… you must have been on some real shitty pills, man –“

“Alright!” Ed shouted, cutting him off. “Alright. I’m in heat, yeah? Fine. You win. But I’m _leaving._ I’ll find another dealer – and it’s none of your business anyway! My management will –“ 

“They’ll ‘what’, Ed? You think they’re going to find you new drugs? Fuck, mate, suppressants are _illegal,_ no matter how famous you are! We did you a favor bringing you here. Your management has been spending the last five hours convincing the interviewer and her staff not to out you right away; but the best-case scenario is that they buy you a couple weeks at most. Not to mention the rot those meds have had on your body if you’ve been taking them long term. Omegas have gone fucking _feral_ from that stuff!”

Ed opened his mouth to spit out some sort of placation, something to diffuse this whole situation. But before he ever got the chance, he was interrupted by the door opening and four rather irritated alphas strolling in from outside. When they saw the omegas standing off against eachother, a growl rose from the eldest – Louis, Ed remembered. “What the fuck is going on in here?”

The dominating growl had Niall bowing his head in submission, his neck on clear display. “We were talking…” 

“Talking?” Liam’s soft voice gentled Louis’ overbearing frustration and Niall’s shoulders relaxed a little. Ed was still reeling form Louis’ alpha tone and the scent coming from all four of them. He was torn between wanting to make a run for it or falling to his knees and offering to let them all take him one by one. _Fuck,_ he was getting hornier by the second. And not even just that – but his hole had slicked up exponentially since they walked in with all their alpha pheromones unrestrainedly permeating the air in the living room. He shifted awkwardly, pulling at the shirt he wore and praying that it would stretch enough to at least cover the wet spot growing on the seat of his pants.

Harry was the only one looking directly at Ed, his eyes not even flickering for a moment towards his own omega. No, his focus was entirely on the red-head who, he noticed, was trying to inch out of the room while Liam and Louis were preoccupied with Niall. Maybe he supposed he could make it out of the house with only two alphas on his tail. Unfortunately, and Harry definitely did grin a little at the thought, Ed hadn’t yet realized that he was in way too deep to get away now. Not only were there obsessed fans always close by, but he wouldn’t be able to get out of here without revealing his true gender to everyone who happened to be anywhere close to him. He had no choice but to stay, but his omega hindbrain was urging him to run, urging him to get away from the apparent ‘threat’ in the room – all of which happened to be the four alpha boys who, in actuality, meant no harm to Ed at all.

“Ed?” Surprisingly, it was Zayn who directed his question to the ginger first, “We aren’t going to hurt you. You get that, yeah?”

“…Yeah.” It was said with far too much hesitation. Zayn sighed, fighting the desire to light a cigarette. When he spoke again, he let a bit of his alpha voice bleed into the words.  
  
“We will _not_ hurt you.”

The burning had obviously started up again, as Ed’s form was beginning to tremble, but the red-head gritted his teeth against it. Zayn couldn’t help but be a little impressed. Most omegas, hell, even Niall on most occasions, couldn’t fight so hard against their instincts for so long.

“You took suppressants?”

A tight nod. Zayn could work with that.

“We aren’t going to have that conversation now. We –“ and here, Zayn gestured to all the boys, “Aren’t angry at you for that. Understand? Nod yes, if you do.” Ed nodded, his hands curling into fists and his body full-on shaking now. “You don’t have much time until your heat starts for real. It’s going to hit you like a freight train and we might only have minutes. But we don’t want to take advantage of you. Yeah? We won’t have sex with you without your full consent, and you can’t do that when you’re in heat. So you’re safe, mate. We’ve got a heat-room set up with all the necessities." 

Ed swallowed and nodded hurriedly, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. The omega part of his brain rebelled at the thought of the alphas leaving him alone to attend to his heat himself, but he knew that what Zayn was saying was right. He didn’t want to sleep with these boys. At least, not right now, half mad with the first heat he had had in years.

“It should only last around two days at most, since it’s your first heat coming off suppressants. You won’t have a full heat week for another month or so,” Niall piped up. “You’re going to be okay. We’ll take care of you.”

 _We’ll take care of you._ Ed hadn’t heard those words in years. And not ever, in reference to his heat or his omega nature. They were a balm to his heart, washing over and touching him with their sincerity. It was enough to make tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. These boys were going to help him. They were going to make things _okay_ , at least while he was in heat. Responsibility, anxiety, and all the panic that he had built up over the years melted a little at Niall’s heartfelt declaration.

They would take care of him.


End file.
